Historic Arsenal Park - Benicia, California

Remy Regala

My shop RAGS TO RICHES Consignment Boutique retired as of October 31, 2024 after 32 years in business. Been a tenant at Historic Arsenal Park since 1992. There’s no other space most fitting for the kind of business I had. The Landlord and tenant camaraderie has been most pleasant in both business and personal relationships. This part of Benicia is the most sought after area, most unique in every way. HISTORIC ARSENAL PARK is highly recommended place of business.

Ashley Malyszka

I absolutely do not recommend doing business with these people, which is really a shame because the building is gorgeous and unique. We rented the space for our wedding last May and working with the property manager was the most stressful thing about the whole wedding planning experience. First, just 4 months before our wedding, she replaced the website with a message that simply read “venue is permanently closed” without giving us a heads up. My guests and vendors were SO confused, and I was panicked that maybe they had taken our money and run. She didn’t even return my calls about the matter, just texted to say my reservation was safe and they’re closing after our event because the owners didn’t think it was making enough money as an event space. Then 2 weeks before I email our final setup and decor plans (as requested in the contract) and she tells us that the gazebo area we wanted to do our ceremony in had been torn down in November (mind you we were there in January and it was still up and she said nothing about it becoming unavailable). Then like 2 days before she wanted to charge us extra to use another space for the ceremony…that we would only be using because our first choice was torn down without us knowing…When I politely asked about getting a break on the extra charge I received paragraphs of texts back saying all this bs about how the owners wanted me to cancel my event so they could shut down but ultimately didn’t so they’re doing me a favor. I’m sorry, a FAVOR to honor the contract we BOTH signed nearly a year in advance, and we PAID IN FULL and which you accepted without comment? No one ever communicated to me that they wanted us to cancel. Hell, no one told me they were closing down until I asked about the website! This sounded almost like a threat so I decided not to poke the bear and have her totally cancel my wedding 2 days before and when I (again, politely) asked about an alternative cheaper (though slightly inconvenient) ceremony spot and if it would accommodate my guests she replied “that’s for you to decide, not me”. At that point I ended up telling her not to speak to me directly and to only communicate with my coordinator. Not worth the stress for the best day of my life. The sink in the bar area was a gunky disgusting mess that our bartenders ended up scrubbing out. The icing on the cake was when I heard absolutely nothing back about the refundable security deposit, despite the contract stating it would be returned within 10 days after the event. I had to bug her multiple times to actually get it back. Ultimately, we had so much fun at our wedding and our guests loved the space, but the stress of dealing with Carol’s incompetence and callousness was not worth it. My sister is a professional wedding planner and she was blown away by how everything was handled. Unprofessional, uncommunicative, and just overall very uncool. Gee, I wonder why the owners thought it was unprofitable? So much potential wasted because one person is bad at their job.

GuitarFinds

Great place! A true gem in the Bay Area!

Town Traveller